Spartans race past Austin, into 2nd round
DECATUR – Colton Yeager recognized the play, as the quarterback rolled out to his right.
Yeager recalled the scouting report from earlier in the week, read the quarterback’s eyes and picked off the screen pass. Sixty-five yards later, he was in the end zone.
That play gave the Mountain Brook High School football team all the momentum just before halftime, and the Spartans ran over Austin, 31-0, on Friday night in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.
“I saw it forming and I was like, ‘I gotta get this,’ and it happened,” Yeager recalled. “I thought I was running too slow, but luckily I was able to play it out.”
Yeager’s interception was one of four passes the Spartans defense picked off during the contest, as a normally stout unit held up to its standard. Austin’s offense managed just 162 total yards, and quarterbacks Kulyn Hubbard and Quincy Crittendon combined to complete 7-of-21 passes for 49 yards.
“We’re best friends, on and off the field,” Yeager said. “Overall, the hard work we’ve been putting in together, we’ve jelled so well together and that’s what makes us so good.”
Grant Griffin intercepted a pass on the third play of the game, which led to an Atkins Roberts 37-yard field goal that put Mountain Brook up, 3-0. The Spartans failed to capitalize on a Collin Bussman pick early in the second quarter, but Yeager’s pick-six gave the Spartans a 10-0 lead at the halftime break despite the offense struggling.
Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager took the blame for the offense’s struggles and said, “We got three picks in the first half and only generated 10 points, the defense was just playing suffocating. We should’ve had a lot more than that. But that’s what teams are about. When one side’s struggling a bit, the other side picks them up, and they did.”
So Mountain Brook (9-2) came out in the second half and went to its bread and butter: running the football.
On its opening drive of the third quarter, Mountain Brook called 10 straight running plays and dominated the line of scrimmage, eating up 69 yards and scoring on a 13-yard run by quarterback Strother Gibbs to increase the lead to 17-0.
“We decided we were going to get hat on hat and let AJ (Gates) and Strother win the game,” Chris Yeager said.
That plan worked. The Spartans only put the ball in the air once in the second half and pulled away with a 21-point third quarter. On Austin’s first drive of the third quarter, a bad snap sent the Black Bears punter all the way back to the 1-yard line, where he was tackled. Gibbs plunged in on the next play to make it 24-0.
Gibbs only threw the ball four times in the game, completing just one for a 15-yard gain to Hamp Greene. Gibbs rushed for 58 yards and the two scores.
Colton Yeager’s second pick late in the third quarter led to Gates’ 43-yard touchdown run on the very next play to put the scoreboard at its final margin.
“It means the world to us," Colton Yeager said. "It’s awesome."
Gates had 116 yards rushing on 15 carries for Mountain Brook. Tyhlen Williams led Austin (7-4) on the ground with 74 yards on 15 carries.
The Spartans advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year. Next week, they will travel to Hoover, where the Bucs knocked off Mountain Brook, 31-7, on Nov. 2. Hoover defeated Bob Jones in the first round, 26-18.
The win was also the 101st win at Mountain Brook for Chris Yeager, who surpassed Joey Jones to become the winningest coach in program history. He came to Mountain Brook 20 years ago as Jones’ offensive coordinator and has been head coach for the past 13 years.
“I’m the most blessed football coach, I can promise you that,” he said. “I hope one day when I hang up my whistle and go to the farm, that some young buck comes in behind me and just shatters this thing.”